Linus Straßer and Lena Dürr travel to France with great ambitions, record-breaking Mikaela Shiffrin and Swiss Marco Odermatt are in good shape. Questions and answers on the Alpine World Ski Championships.
For Linus Straßer it was all about finding the right feeling again. Germany’s best slalom skier is traveling to the Alpine World Ski Championships in France, which begin this Monday, with high hopes.
“I’m really into it,” he said after his sixth place at the dress rehearsal in Chamonix. The early exit from the previous night slalom in Schladming seems over – and Straßer is ready for the title fights in Courchevel and Méribel. Along with Lena Dürr, the 30-year-old is the hottest contender for a medal in the German team. Here you will find the most important information about the start of the World Cup.
Where is driving?
The women contest their races on the “Roc de Fer” in Méribel, where the alpine competitions of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville took place. The men ski on the new and spectacular “Eclipse” slope in Courchevel. The two venues are around 30 kilometers apart.
What is the schedule?
As in 2021 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, 13 titles will be awarded this time – six each for women and men and one in the team event. After the women’s combination on Monday (11.00 a.m. and 2.30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport) and the men’s on Tuesday, the speed disciplines are scheduled first and then the technique disciplines in the second week.
Who are the favourites?
The Swiss Marco Odermatt could be the face of this World Cup. The leader of the overall World Cup has already won eight races this season – four each in Super-G and giant slalom. The giant slalom is his favorite discipline. In the last 13 World Cup starts, he always finished on the podium here, and a year ago he won Olympic gold. In terms of speed, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is his biggest competitor. The Norwegian has already won five downhill runs this winter. The Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr, 2021 world champion in the downhill and in the super-G, can also be expected again in the medal fight.
For women, Mikaela Shiffrin is once again the focus. The Olympic drama in China, where she remained without a medal a year ago, has long since been dealt with. With 85 World Cup victories, the American has taken the top spot in the all-time women’s list. In France, she wants to add more to her six World Championship gold medals – in the combination on Monday she is directly the favourite. Shiffrin also calculates something in slalom and giant slalom. In the downhill, the Italian Sofia Goggia is the measure of all things.
What to expect from the Germans?
In 2021 there were three silver medals in the speed category and bronze in the team competition. This time, the slalom specialists Straßer and Dürr are the “hottest irons in the fire”, as the former Olympic champion Maria Höfl-Riesch puts it: “Both are having a strong and, above all, consistent season and are definitely medal candidates.” Straßer has been on the podium twice this season, Dürr even four times. In the Czech town of Spindlermühle, the Munich native recently celebrated her first World Cup victory.
Vice World Champion Kira Weidle can also get involved in the downhill on a good day. Alexander Schmid is a candidate for the top 5 in giant slalom. Things are not looking so good for the speed men: Romed Baumann and Andreas Sander, who came second in the World Championships, are a long way from the form they were two years ago. Thomas Dreßen, the best German downhill skier and Kitzbühel winner of 2018, is fighting to return to the top after a long history of injuries.
Where can you see the races?
ARD and ZDF alternate with the transmissions. Eurosport broadcasts all races.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
